The beauty of wood carving is that you can produce gratifying pieces with a blade or a host of awesome power tools.
I have to admit my carving has taken on a life of its own. I've spent a few more dollars to get to where I am but I still manage to maintain simplicity and not break the bank.
Getting back to carving in 2009 I just didn't like carving primarily with a blade. I moved up to a Dremel and I was hooked. For roughly two years, while "snowbirding" in FL, I would take out my carpenters carving bag sit outside our motor home and begin carving. My carving sessions were limited by the weather, day light and bugs!
A couple of years ago we moved and I saw some fun possibilities to take by "eminant domain" a small "foot print" of space for carving in our garage. I went to a portable camp table with a folding chair. This past summer I stepped it up. I built my own carving bench and began customizing my "carving domain."
I think I finally have my carving bench tweaked to my liking.
Above, to the left of the bench is my dust collector which connects to the table. I added a small wire shelve for goodies/attachments and a comfortable chair. I still have my Dremel at the ready however, you can see I've moved up to a MasterCarver purchased from Wood Carvers Supply, Inc.
(I'll be posting a review on the MasterCarver and my experience with Wood Carvers Supply, Inc. in a later post.)
I built the bench back in the Spring of 2012. I think I've "tweaked" it every week to date. As you know, you've got to have a space for everything. Well, except for my paint supplies, everything I need is either on or connected to the bench in one way or another.
I added a hand piece holder for ease of use but it also allows the flex-shaft to hang with no weight on it.
The Stealth hand piece fits in the bottom tube and the Detail Pro fits in the top tube. While hunting for a device to house the hand pieces I had an old landscape lawn sprinkler unit laying around. I took out the automatic head that pops up when spraying and found that the outer casing fit the Stealth hand piece. I then discovered that the inner tube will hold the new Detail Pro hand piece. I cut out sections of the tubes to allow the hand pieces to slide easily into the tubes. I held them together and screwed them to the side of my bench.
My latest addition is the plexi-glass dust surround.
The bench is only 24" X 24". Like I said, I really tried to "stay small" with this hobby. The red and clear (fishing tackle) box on the wire shelve is my carving box from the '60's. (My carving tool of choice (and price) was two Exacto knife handles and lots of blades. From there I moved up to a carpenters bag for all my carving equipment and a yellow plastic tool box for my paints (seen on the bench above).
Many of you know I mainly carve caricatures. They only run in size between 3" or 4" in diameter to 4" to 6" tall.
For electrical power, I have a power strip on the right side that runs my dust collector, light, fan, MasterCarver and Dremel with one more plug open for another gadget.
If we should take any long trips I'm able to pack my carving box and Dremel into its bag, and along with my paint box pack them in the motor home and carve on the road.
I think I've been able to continue to keep my hobby "small" yet carve in a big way.
